Anti-foaming material



United States Patent This'invention relates to antifoaming substances, for

the =Kjeldahl nitrogen determination and packaging for the c'atalysts of the Kjeldahli nitrogen determination and refersfmore particularly itq a materiallwhich markedly red'uce's foaming i'n thez Kjeldah'l nitrogen determination and adtlitionallyprovides a packaging material which. is

inert to the K'jel'dahl reactionandfsoluble in the Kjeldahl reagents.

When aprot'ein sample is" analyzedi for nitrogen by the 'K'jeltlahl method, it"jis firstheatedj with concentratedlsulj- 'pliurie -aciduntil itis completely digested; In this, reaetime organic matter -'is:oxidi zed to carbon; dioxide and the-nitrogen present is converted to ammonium; nitrate, in which form-itj'i'sfready .for'distillation; after alkali; js.0-

;dium-. hydroxiderplus, water)f'.isjaddedi A reference .ex-

plai'ning-the Kjeldahl' methodjsiC. A. Storvick, Journal American DietetieAssociatiom l0, 799 (1950);; Inthe early-phases'ofdigestiom, the reaction mixture is black; but the color'gcl'ears up. to wardjthev end, the re.-

moval-ofthe' last'trace'ofgray' indicating that the proeess i s completez With concentrated sulphuric acid alone, the

digestion of the sample, proceed'srather slowly. Its speed; however; has been greatly increased by adding' several materialswhich speedthe digestion, but do" not interfere withthe nitrogen-determi'nati'on.v These are oftwo-types,

namely;specificcatalysts such as copper, mercury and selenium; andalkali sulphates, such as potassiumj orsoe dium sulphate; whichjare; addedf simply toraise the boili ing point of the diges'tionmixture. Whenproperlyaided,

the-digestionis ,usually complete in from one-halfgtq'one Gunning and the "KjeldahlgGunning-Arnold, .niethod's't While these three procedures diflfersomewhat inthe com: ponent's-used';- tlrey are essentially equivalent. and the. fol lowing-remarks. as. to improvements appliedjto all three.

' The following table; gives the ofiici'alf digestionmixtures. 1:

for the Kieldahl' nitrogen determination: L

y I a I v K Sample. Sulphuric. Alkali Snl-i Method= welght Acid';ml-. Catalysts, gm. phate gm. 1 gmt I- k l Kieldahllug. 1 32-345, 20:30; t-Jtmereurie oxideor I lt sequlvalentlne.

metalllc'mercury, .I'eSiQnS'OiibHzO 21- meybeusedinad: dition' ori'n place t ofmercurypqs Gunnlng-.... .7 3,5' 15:25., .1;-.3.crystal1ine.con- ,tmpowtdered persulphateiop K5804 or.

tlonallm, anhydrous t NazSOh- Kleldahl- .7-.-3.5- 1 25 lcoppersulphateor 1518K1SO4' Gunning I v 1 aboutrflmereurle .'0!.811hyr-: Arnold oxide (or its dtous. equivalent in NQ SOi g metallic mercury). 1

. To complete the determinatiomofi; nitrogen, :-the clear digestionmixture is cooled); dilutedtwithz-r distilled: water:

andmadestrongly alkalinenwith-rsodiumhydroxide::5 Aids.

to distillation, such. as zinc. and: pumice areusually added. A, quantity of, water is then. distilledfrom: the alkaline mixture into a receiving flask containing a solution of acid. The ammonia resulting from, the digestion, of.-protin and othernitrogen containing compounds-is carried over into the receiver quantitatively in this distillation. Here it is trapped by. the: acid and the amountpresent can be, determined by titration.

Many foodand feed. stuffs can be carriedlthrough the procedure. without. trouble; others,=, however, given difficultyclueato foamingof the solutions... In the digestion, the long: neckspherical flask containing thev digestion mix ture is tilted and. heated. on the sidetvusing an electric heater. or gas flames. Ina satisfactory. digestionwfoam rises .only aniinchor two abovethe bIack -tarry-digeStion mixture,,.lthen,r.olls over or breaks and returns;- .With troublesometsamples however, the amountv of ,foarnand froth. is excessive". .It. rises high within; the. flask, some.- ti'meswell. intolthe neck,,-andmay remain high". during: a large portion 0ft digestion. Tarry material: also-sticks .to the. sidesof the flask, afterthe foam subsides. .tThe 'separation,,;as foam, of. material from the-hot mixture near theheaterconsiderahly, increasesthe time-needed=for digestion. I It is. hardlo genenalize in:whattyp es of materials; foam forms. excessively. whenddigestedtzazMany' of them how ever; are concentratesandianeparticularly rieh in protein, fat. carbohydratallfiberaor atcombination'e of theses ;-As examples may be. listed; dried; milk, -soyheans,- sheep manure, starch,, alfalfa, beef; meal, .br an-randaa inumber of rich mixed feeds. Foaming trouble may bealsQ-traced insorne casesto specific foam-producing;substancesyrsuch as the ,waxes and sterols of many plant materials;- the soluble proteins. of blood meal-,;-.etc. Erevious1y,.the1 catalysts for the Kieldahlmitrogennder termination havebeeniadded. tothe digestion intwoforms;

'Ihe. ,firstform. is the meremeas-uring out. oftthe; correct quantities of the desired catalyst materials: and zthentadde ing them as: loose, powders. tothe digestion liquidsz: The other, formof use. has comprised .theputting: up. of. the catalyst I powders :in. a-tablet= having -abinder mixed .there-. with .to. hold. the catalyst powders together. ewhen the loose. powders. are employedthe operator; mustsmeasure out the; requisite quantitiestandrmix them; wlliehzpnocess is inconvenient and time consuming. Additionally,';there isthe danger of, contamination! and poisoning; fromv the catalysts themselves. When the tablets-employing the binden. are used,, additionalproblems arise;.'..,"I he-:binden itself adds organic material to the digestion mixture which meansihereismore substance to be. oxidizedguthereby usingup part of the. digestion; acid; :Adclitionally the type of organicmixture which is feasiblewa's: a binding materialusually is of asortl which increases the amount of foaming during the digestion. This latter. process 55 materially slowsup'the digestion; Furthermorathebihdingmaterial is,apt.to contribute toatheenitro'gen:content ofi the, mixture. and'thus make thedetermination. inaccurate; There is also the possibility that the droppingof thej tablet into the flaskmay. break it.. Theiemployment of a binder 60 does, not eliminate. the contaminatiiornhazard from the alkali sulphate or mercury and.the:wor-ker; as: in. the case of. the looserpowders, must wear rubber gloves.

A typical examplerof acatalyst: tabl'etemploying binding materials is the following composition:-

"8 z ijfi LHQO .25 gm; dextri'n" .S'gmt carbowax (HOC (CH OCH )",,CH O'H) (n aver:

ages 66)" 1 .20 gm. powdered'wax- ;20 gm mineral oil This particular tablet has the following objectional features: it must be kept in amber bottles; the bottle must be kept closed to avoid nitrogen pickup by the tablets; the tablet is poisonous to the touch; the tablet must be carefully added to the digestion flask in order not to break it; and it is diflicult to obtain standardization of the binder.

In two previous applications, Serial No. 315,828, filed October 20, 1952, and Serial No. 371,140, filed July 29, 1953, both now abandoned, I have provided fluid antifoaming substances for addition to the catalysts of the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination to reduce foaming in the nitrogen determination. However, in these instances, the most convenient form of addition of these antifoaming agents tothe reaction mixture has been by confining the agents with the catalysts in tablet form. This, again, has necessitated the employment of a binder with the catalysts and antifoams which leads to the additional difliculties hereinbefore set forth. Therefore it has become desirable to provide an effective antifoaming substance for the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination which is not fluid and which does not require that the catalysts and antifoams be put up together in tablet form or with the employment of extra binding materials.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide packaging for the catalysts of the Kjedahl nitrogen determination which provides the catalysts in a convenient form, which greatly reduces the time consumed in adding the catalysts to the Kjeldahl digestion mixture, and completely eliminates the need for weighing out, measuring or mixing of the catalyst materials.

Another object of the invention is to provide an antifoaming substance which, when added to the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination, will materially reduce foaming in the reaction.

Another object of the invention is to provide an antifoaming agent for use in the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination and in combination with the catalysts for said nitrogen determination which is not fluid and which does have to be put up in combination with the catalyst powders in tablet form thereby requiring addition of extra binding materials.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an antifoaming substance which materially reduces foaming in the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination and additionally provides a packaging material for the catalysts of the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination which is inert to the Kjeldahl reaction and soluble in the Kjeldahl reagents.

Another object of this invention is to provide packaging for the Kjeldahl catalysts which completely eliminates any possibility for contaminating the hands of the operator.

A further object it to provide packaging for the Kjeldahl catalysts which add a minimum amount of organic material to the digestion mixture and thus consumes a minimum of the sulphuric acid employed in the digestion.

Another object of this invention is to provide packaging material for the catalysts of the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination which will not cause foaming in the process of the digestion. I Still another object of the present invention is to provide packaging for the Kjeldahl catalysts which does vnot add nitrogen to the digestion mixture to invalidate the nitrogen determination and which, furthermore, offers no hazard to the digestion containers when the catalysts are added to the digestion mixture.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a catalyst assembly for the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination which comprises the catalysts for the Kjeldahl reaction enclosed in an envelope which is inert to the Kjeldahl reaction, soluble in the Kjeldahl reagents and does not cause foaming in the digestion process.

Yet another object of the present invention is to pro:

vide a catalyst assembly for the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination which comprises in combination catalysts for the Kjeldahl reaction contained in a sealed envelope suit able for storage and transportation, said envelope composed of a substance substantially free of nitrogen and soluble in sulphuric acid.

Other and further objects of the present invention will appear in the course of the following description.

In the technology of the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination there are two fundamentally important problems, the solution of which would markedly speed the execution of the nitrogen determination, increase its accuracy and lower its hazard to the operator. These two problems are first, the reduction of foaming in the digestion portion of the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination and, second, the packaging of the catalyst chemicals which are employed in the determination. It has been discovered that a single substance will solve at one stroke both of these major difliculties and thereby provide an etfective antifoam agent for the material and marked reduction of foaming in the digestion portion of the determination, particularly for high protein content samples and also furnish a packagingmaterial for the catalyst powders employed in the determination which meets all of the basic requirements for such packaging. This'substance is polyethylene, which is a hydrocarbon resinresulting from the polymerization of ethylene. Thecomposition, properties and formulation. of polyethylene is given in detail in The New Plastics, by Herbert R. Simonds and Bigelow, published by D. W. Van Nostrand Company, lnc., New York, 1945. The information on polyethylene in this volume is given on pages 20-26. It has been discovered that the addition of polyethylene to the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination reaction materially reduces foaming, in fact, to a greater extent than any previously known .antifoaming substance employed with the Kjeldahl determination, uniformly on the widest variety of protein substances. Thus, for example, the addition of polyethylene in the nitrogen determination materially reduced foaming with fertilizers, meats of all sorts, liquids of all sorts, tobacco, oil meal, flax seed, and .many other substances such as are commonly tested for their nitrogen content with the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination. Additionally, it has been discovered that polyethylene in the form of a sheet may be employed as a packaging material to enclose the catalyst powders which,is soluble inv the Kjeldahl reagents and inert to theKjeldahl reaction. vThus, polyethyleneis soluble in sulphuric. acid atjthe .customary temperatures of the Kjeldahl reaction and is substantially free of nitrogen. The discoveryof thev antifoaming properties of polyethylene is believed to be completely unique and absolutely unanticipated in any research work previously done with this compound. Additionally, it is believed that the use of this material as a packaging substance for catalysts in the Kjeldahl reaction is completely new and this substance is believed unique in its combined properties of antifoam and packaging material inert to the Kjeldahl reaction and soluble in the Kjeldahl reagents. Polyethylene is thermoplastic in nature and the sheet material employed as a packaging material may be heat sealed by pressing or other similar action.

It has been determined that the catalysts of the determination may be conveniently and successfully packaged in a polyethylene package of the weight of approximately .16 gram and that this amount will also produce the antifoaming effect as described. A specific package (which are mass-produced) was weighted at .1652 gram. This amount or a greater amount added to the digestion either as a package or solid additive produces the antifoam effect (note 1.5 gm. package listed in later table and this package also produced the antifoam efiect).

The packaging material of the present invention is necessarily inert to the Kjeldahl reaction in that the material must besubstantially free of nitrogen. Additionally, the

material must be soluble in the Kjeldahl reagents, which Power factor, 60 cycles 0.03-0.08.

means that the material must be soluble in sulphuric acid Effect of age None. heated to the customary temperature and of the concen- Effect of sunlight Slight. tration customarily employed in the Kjeldahl determina- Machinability Good. tion. Additionally, the packaging material must not com- Color possibilities Extensive. bine with the Kjeldahl reagents or the catalysts or the protein samples to form undesirable side reactions and, Paper has P P to the P P where there in particular must not produce f i in the digestion 1s substantially no nitrogen present (essentially pure celluprocess. The packaging material is employed in the form 1056) and Whlch has sufficleflt mechaPlcal strength may of a resilient sealable sheet which encloses the catalyst be employed as the packagfng f- Paper P the powders. It is desirable that the packaging material be type commcfnly F P chemlca} laboratol'les: as strong enough to be readily transported and handled withfilter Paper, emmenfly Suitable for Purpose out rupture or breakage Additionally, the packaging nstances and an example of such a suitable filter paper material must be unaflfectcd by the catalyst chemicals 1s filter P p f ed by the Eatonin Storage over a period f time and harmless to the 15 Dikeman Co., of Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania. h, The following table gives comparative information for Tw th substances h v b f d t d t hi h the catalysts of the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination when are suitable as packaging materials for the catalysts of mpl y uncombined, in tablet form With C ent onal the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination. These are vinylidene inert binders and, furthermore, in the three packaging machloride and paper which has been purified to the point 29 terials set forth above.

Sample Deter- Sample Clearing Percent- Percentmlned Weight, Catalyst Used Time, age age Grams Minutes Nitrogen Protein Ground beef 2.69 .7Kgl'8g1 HgO, 15 grams 21 2.72 17.03 Do 2.79 2 tfinet's containing .1 30 2.63 16. 43

gram Ego and 15 grams K.so. binders. Do 2. 64 .7 gram HgO, 16 grams 20 2.69 16.81

KSSO in e vinylidene chloride package weighlug .349 gram. Do 2.44 .7 gram HgO, 15 grams 2.7 16.87

K1804 in a .548 gram filter paper package. Do 2.49 gram HgO, 16 grams 2.58 16.13

K2804 in a 1.5 grams polyethylene package.

where only traces of nitrogen are present. Vinylidene Thus it is seen that an antifoaming substance and chloride is a plastic material that may be made in the packaging material for the Kjeldahl nitrogen determinaform of a sheet and, since it is thermoplastic in nature, tion catalysts have been provided which accomplish all the sheets may be heat sealed by pressing or other similar of the objects hereinbefore set forth and which far suraction. The paper may be crimped to form a seal or an pass the conventional form of use of these catalysts in adhesive which is nitrogen free may be employed, such convenience and safety. as the polyvinylacetate adhesives. From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention Vinylidene chloride is the trade name for vinylidene is one well adapted to obtain all of the ends and objects chloride or unsymmetrical dichloroethylene. Areference hereinbefore set forth together with other advantages describing vinylidene chloride, its composition, properties which are obvious and which are inherent to the composiand formulation is The New Plastics" by Herbert R. 11011- Simonds and M. H. Bigelow (pp. 71-80), published by As many possible embodiments may be made of the D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., New York, 1945. invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is Gene 1 r [e f rd M l to be interpreted that all matter herein set forth is illusm p s 0 a vmy me c on e form anon trative and is not to be interpreted in a limiting sense. Elfect of Weak acids None. Having thus described my invention, I claim: Effect of strong acids Darkens in H SO -others l. A process of minimizing the production of foam none. in the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination comprising the Effect of weak alkalies.. None. step of adding thereto a polyethylene soluble in the Effect of strong alkalies Affected by NH OH Kjeldahl reagents.

darkens in caustic, others 2. A process of minimizing the production of foam in none. the Kjeldahl nitrogen determination comprising the step Eifect of organic solvents--- Highly resistant. of adding polyethylene to the Kjeldahl nitrogen determi- Water absorption, ASTM nation in the digestion phase thereof.

D570-40T Less than 0.1%. Water permeability Very low. 6 References Cited in the file of this patent Burning rate Self-extinguishing. 5 Thermal conductivity 2.2 x 10- cal./sec./sq. UNITED STATES PATENTS elm/c 2,609,344 Johnson Sept. 2, 1952 Specific heat 0316 ca1 C /g n 2,700,461 Smlth Index of refraction 1.61. Specific gravity 1.70. OTHER REFERENCES Volume resistivity, D. C 10 -10 ohm-ems. Commercial Organic Analysis, by A. H. Allen, 3rd Dielectric strength, 60 ed., vol. 1, 1898, pages 4552.

cycles 500-3000 v./mil. Polyethylene, published by E. I. du Pont de Nemours Dielectric constant, 60 & Co., Plastics Dept., Arlington, New Jersey, April 1956,

cycles 4, page 22. 

1. A PROCESS OF MINIMIZING THE PRODUCTION OF FOAM IN THE KJELDAHL NITROGEN DETERMINATION COMPRISING THE STEP OF ADDING THERETO A POLYETHYLENE SOLUBLE IN THE KJELDAHL REAGENTS. 